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In Pictures: London-born Jane Birkin crossed the Channel to become a world star


By PA News

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Jane Birkin first came to public attention with her projects with Serge Gainsbourg before forging a long and varied career on her own.

The couple’s breathless song Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus was widely kept off the airwaves because of its adult content.

It reached number one in the UK despite being sung in a foreign language.

Jane Birkin with Serge Gainsbourg at London’s Heathrow Airport in 1977(PA)
Jane Birkin with Serge Gainsbourg at London’s Heathrow Airport in 1977(PA)
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg had a number one hit with the racy song Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus (PA)
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg had a number one hit with the racy song Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus (PA)
A photograph of British actress and model Jane Birkin, taken in 1970 by Michael Webb (Johnny Green/PA)
A photograph of British actress and model Jane Birkin, taken in 1970 by Michael Webb (Johnny Green/PA)
A tie-belted zebra print jacket in fake fur shown in London by Jane Birkin in 1973 (PA)
A tie-belted zebra print jacket in fake fur shown in London by Jane Birkin in 1973 (PA)

Birkin would eventually split from Gainsbourg, with whom she had a daughter, Charlotte – one of three children born to the actress.

She would go on to pursue her own career, with some notable acting credits including Agatha Christie’s Death On The Nile and Evil Under The Sun.

Actress and model Jane Birkin keeps cool with an ice cream in 1970 (PA)
Actress and model Jane Birkin keeps cool with an ice cream in 1970 (PA)
Jane Birkin in concert at The Roundhouse in Camden, north London, in 2008 (Yui Mok/PA)
Jane Birkin in concert at The Roundhouse in Camden, north London, in 2008 (Yui Mok/PA)
Jane Birkin arrives for the premiere of the film Dancer In The Dark at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival (Toby Melville/PA)
Jane Birkin arrives for the premiere of the film Dancer In The Dark at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival (Toby Melville/PA)
Jane Birkin with Edward, then Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, then Countess of Wessex, at a gala dinner during the British Film Festival in Dinard, France, in 1999(Matthew Fearn/PA)
Jane Birkin with Edward, then Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, then Countess of Wessex, at a gala dinner during the British Film Festival in Dinard, France, in 1999(Matthew Fearn/PA)

Her death in Paris at the age of 76 marks the end of a career that begin in the 1960s and would be honoured in the land of her birth by an OBE.

The French capital’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, hailed her as “the most Parisian of the English”.

Jane Birkin arriving for the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival screening of Around A Small Mountain (Yui Mok/PA)
Jane Birkin arriving for the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival screening of Around A Small Mountain (Yui Mok/PA)
Actress Jane Birkin with her OBE in April 2022 (John Stillwell/PA)
Actress Jane Birkin with her OBE in April 2022 (John Stillwell/PA)
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